Make It Count
by FabulousVillain
Summary: Modern High School AU where Merlin and Arthur are afraid to confess their feelings for each other. Features a flirtatious Lancelot, an overnight school activity, some fluff, a loving Gwen that plots against her best friend for fun, and awkward Merthur staring. This is my first Merlin fanfic and I'd appreciate reviews and constructive criticism.


**Hi there! I'm a new writer so I'm sorry if it's not that good. But I'd appreciate reviews and constructive criticism. Merlin is such a beautiful TC show and I ship Merthur hard. So hard, I'd summon the Kraken to destroy any other ships for Merlin or Arthur. Please leave a review if you have time :).**

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"Ah, yes. The weather is just perfect." Merlin Emrys said to himself as he walked into the school. It had been a beautiful autumn's day. The falling leaves of the deciduous trees gave out shades ranging from light orange to scarlet red. The cold wind blew lightly, carrying with it a few fallen leaves from the school's front entrance. Albion High School was one of the most well-known schools in the area, often praised for its high-standard education and strict but reasonable discipline.

"Someone's having a good day." Gwen said as Merlin sat down the chair beside her with a cheerful smile in his face that seemed to go well with his oddly high cheekbones.

"Well, we all heard the news." Vivian told her as she sat down behind Gwen.

"What news?" Sophia asked while holding up her hand mirror to look at herself.

"Oh, you know. The one where Arthur broke up with his girlfriend." Gwen replied, rolling her brown eyes to Merlin.

"Shut up!" Sophia exclaimed in surprise and put down her hand mirror "No wonder Merlin's exuberant!"

Merlin's cheerful expression turned into a deadly glare.

"Just what gave you that idea?" He snapped defensively, obviously irritated.

"Oh come on, Merlin. Just tell the truth. We all know you like- I mean love Arthur." Vivian persuaded "If there's anyone who would be happy about the breakup, it would be you."

Merlin's cheeks turned carnation pink. The fact about him loving Arthur was true, though he never told anyone about it, still, speculations rose since last year. The fact about him being happy about the breakup, however, was anything but true. In fact, he felt bad for Arthur. He had always been there whenever Arthur planned something for his girlfriend. One time, Arthur overreacted and asked Merlin to check the grammar and spelling of his poem. Merlin, of course, felt jealousy in his veins. But he had accepted the fact that Arthur would never feel the same way. That they would be nothing more than good friends, and he liked it that way, though there are times he really wanted Arthur to be his. Of course, Arthur's talkative sister, the emerald-eyed Morgana wasn't stopped from spreading the rumor and when she did, it spread like wildfire on dried grass during the hottest day of summer. In a matter of two days, everyone had a speculation that Merlin really liked Arthur.

"The pink shade that reaches your cheekbones is already an obvious sign." Gwen told him.

"I am not happy about it! Okay?!" Merlin told them angrily.

"Not happy about what?" a male voice behind him asked

Merlin turned around to see Arthur standing behind his chair. Arthur's eyes that are nearly as blue as the sky looked puzzled and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"Arthur!" Merlin said in nervous excitement, not expecting the blonde boy's appearance "Oh, I was just um- err—talking about the news on the weather in the next few days! Yeah, I'm really not happy about those cold nights that are to come."

Vivian, Gwen and Sophia tried as hard as they can to hold their laughter. Fortunately, their efforts weren't futile.

"But they just said something about pink cheeks being an obvious sign." Arthur told him, still not satisfied with Merlin's answer.

"Oh, that! Uh, yeah! The cold weather gives a really bad case of colds and can sometimes turn your cheeks pink. Gwen speculated that I was unhealthily spending more time in the cold weather because it matched my personality. You know, it's cold and bitter." Merlin replied with a nervous laugh and forced up a smile.

"Ohh-kay." Arthur told him and walked away.

Merlin gave himself a mental facepalm. "The weather? Seriously?" he thought to himself.

Gwen, Vivian and Sophia simultaneously burst into giddy laughter.

"The weather, Merlin? Really?" Gwen teased him while laughing.

"Alright, enough." Merlin warned them quietly as he saw the other students in the classroom look at them with question.

Their homeroom and teacher, Mrs. Alice Healy, entered the classroom with the same exuberant spirit as Merlin did earlier. She had a motherly aura and was one of the few teachers who treated students like their own children, often helping them with problems either in academics or in personal affairs. Her husband, Gaius, worked as a physician in a nearby hospital.

"Class, I have great news!" she said gleefully as she set her things on her table "The school has approved of my proposal to have an overnight activity outside the school. The activity is an interactive seminar about self-awareness and social interactions meant to bring out your self-esteem even further."

The entire room was filled with the noise of simultaneous celebration. Merlin simply rolled his eyes.

"I doubt they're excited about the seminar. They are most likely excited with the 'overnight' part." He thought to himself.

After homeroom, Merlin had to get his book in his locker to prepare for the next class: Physics. Merlin had no problems when it comes to academics, especially Physics. As much as he'd hate to admit, he was one of the few students Mr. Dubois praised for excellence. It was really a big deal, considering Mr. Dubois never compliments anyone unless they are truly excellent in his class. However, he also wouldn't hesitate to call those people who are not doing well, though not for humiliation, but for them to be aware of their weakness and use it to improve themselves. Unfortunately, Arthur Pendragon was one of these people who are not doing well. All in all, Mr. Dubois was a kind teacher that often rolled along with his students when it comes to jokes, although he can be a bit bipolar at times.

"Bring out your textbooks, everyone, and open to page 394." Mr. Dubois said as he prepared the projector.

Page 394 was the beginning of the chapter dedicated to Entropy, a key concept of Thermodynamics. Merlin, being the wide reader he is, had already read the entire chapter before anyone else did.

"Okay," Mr. Dubois said as he fixed his glasses "My first question for today is simple: Is there such a thing as 'forever'?" he looked around to see the surprised expressions on most of the students' faces.

To no one's surprise, Merlin raised his hand first.

"Yes, Mr. Emrys. Enlighten us, please." Mr. Dubois said as he leaned against the stable projector

"Forever" Merlin spoke up "is a term commonly used by people to refer to a never-ending time period. However, as the laws of the universe tell us, everything spirals into chaos and everything ends. So, I conclude that forever, in a scientific sense, doesn't exist."

"Bitter!" Vivian said in a teasing tone that was close to singing.

Everyone in the room laughed at the remark. Merlin could have sworn he saw Mr. Dubois chuckle a little.

"Well, Mr. Emrys has made his point. Anyone else would like to give it a try?" Mr. Dubois asked once more, eyes going around the room searchingly.

All of a sudden, everyone turned their necks so fast, they almost broke. Merlin looked to see who they were looking at. Arthur Pendragon had raised his hand!

"Well," the blonde boy spoke up "I guess in a scientific sense, forever does not exist. But in a philosophical sense, it exists. If there is no forever, wouldn't that make the world devoid of 'forever' forever?"

Merlin began to protest "But the universe isn't constant."

"So, when the universe ends, there is no universe forever?" Arthur asked him

"Well, who knows? There may be another one that will form after it's gone." Merlin added

By then, the heads of Mr. Dubois and the students constantly turned from Arthur to Merlin and back again as if watching the Wimbledon Tennis Matches in the stadium itself.

"So, another universe forms and ends. So the cycle repeats itself forever?" Arthur asked once more

"Well, I, uh—I don't know!" Merlin said, looking a little irritated.

"Has Arthur Pendragon outsmarted the great Merlin Emrys?" Mr. Dubois said teasingly, one eyebrow raised.

The room was filled with faint "oooohhhh's". Never have they seen Merlin go speechless. As far as they're concerned, the guy would always snap back to every argument, regardless of whether he believed in the topic or not. But to be roasted and burned speechless by Arthur of all people. Now that's something you don't see every day.

"Well, let's move on." Mr. Dubois continued with his discussion.

Merlin could not help but glare at Arthur for the humiliation the blonde caused him. Arthur, on the other hand, stared back with a triumphant smile that looked like it said "Gotcha!"

At the end of the lecture, Arthur approached Merlin before the raven-haired boy could go out of the room.

"Hey!" Arthur greeted as he approached Merlin

"What?" Merlin asked, irritation evident in his tone

"Are you angry that I finally beat you?" Arthur said teasingly

"No. Of course not." Merlin told him, then he muttered "Clotpole."

"Merlin, how many times have I told you: Clotpole is not a valid word. And I thought you were smarter than me." Arthur told him

"Fine, I'll use prat then!" Merlin told him jokingly.

"I" Arthur said as he went closer to Merlin, invading his personal space "am not a prat!" he then grabbed Merlin in a headlock and messed up his raven hair.

"Okay! Okay! I give up." Merlin said as he struggled while laughing.

"Good." He then released Merlin "So, no hard feelings?" Arthur asked, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Arthur, you know I could never be angry at you. Not any further, at least." Merlin replied with a grin on his face.

"Idiot. You know I could never be as smart as you." Arthur chuckled as he messed up Merlin's hair before making his way out of the room.

"He did what?!" Gwen asked in an unnecessary loud voice. Sophia shushed her and reminded her that they were in the cafeteria, which happens to contain most of the students. It had been lunchtime and Merlin usually sat down with Gwen, Vivian and Sophia, though at the end of the day, he usually goes home with Elena, Freya and Mithian because they happen to live in the same neighborhood.

"You heard me!" Vivian said in a low, cautious voice "Arthur Pendragon gave Merlin Emrys one hell of a burn during Physics and it left our dear Merlin here speechless." Merlin rolled his eyes. Sometimes Vivian just can't help but spill out everything that's running in her mind. "And," Vivian continued "When the class ended, Arthur approached Merlin and _apologized_." She gave emphasis to the word "Apologized"

"He said that he could never be as smart as Merlin. And then, he put Merlin in a headlock and messed up his hair."

"Oh Merlin." Gwen teased "That must have been a real butterflies-in-your-stomach moment for you! He apologized even when there's no need. I guess he felt bad when you were humiliated."

"If I hadn't known any better, I'd say the guy likes Merlin." Sophia said as she fixed her hair a little while looking at her mirror. Merlin just couldn't understand her vanity.

"Oh, come off it, Sophia!" Merlin interjected before anyone else can say anything "We all know that's impossible. Sure, we've been friends for a long time and we probably know each other well. But that doesn't mean he will fall for me."

"I'm just saying people who know each other well are most likely to fall in love. Then again, I might be wrong. And he did blush that one time we teased him that he liked you." Sophia replied, her lips curving into a teasing smile.

After classes had ended, Merlin waited for Elena, Freya and Mithian as he always did every day. The four of them walked home to their neighborhood. During these walks, heavy conversations that seemed to last ages usually happen.

"So," Mithian asked, her dark hair was braided and blended well with her cloud white skin, "How are things with Arthur?"

"Oh God! Not you too?!" Merlin cried out. Apparently, ever since Arthur's recent break up, people could not stop pairing him and Merlin together. Merlin is, after all, suspected of being in love with Arthur.

"Merlin, just admit that you've fallen for him!" Freya told him "Even a blind person can sense your love in the dark!"

"I really don't love him!" Merlin said loudly, though the voice in his head yelled "Liar!"

"Well, he's in that awkward stage of Denial." Elena interrupted, patting Merlin's back "We'll just wait for the proper moment."

"Whatever!" Merlin said one last time as he turned to his house "See you guys tomorrow, then?"

The three girls chuckled and simultaneously said "Bye, Merlin!"

The next day during homeroom, Mrs. Healy called Gwen and Merlin for an important task.

"Merlin, Gwen, I need your help. You are, after all, the class president and vice president respectively. For this Friday's overnight activity, we are taking a local motel. Each room can accommodate three people. Normally, I would let everyone decide who they want to go with, but there are people here who are often left out if I did that. So, seeing as how you two are well acquainted with everyone, May I request you to group these people by three's? You can let them be with their close friends, but make sure Gilli, Sefa and those quiet introverts over there aren't left out, okay? And make sure the girls are separated from the boys." She cast a worried look at Gilli and Sefa's direction. Those two in particular never interacted with anyone aside from the teachers, and if they did, it's because of a very important matter. "You can count on us, Mrs. Healy." Merlin assured the sweet woman. Mrs. Healy's face gave a motherly smile.

"Okay, so we just have to group people into three's and make sure everyone's comfy with their roommates. That's easy." Gwen said, tossing her hair back to look at the sheet of paper with names properly. She leaned on her locker while reading the names. The shrill ringing of the school bell sounded and Merlin remembered he had a test in English. He quickly closed his locker and spoke to Gwen before he made a run for Mr. Kilgharrah's classroom.

"Gwen, I need you to do the grouping without me. I have a test, you see. Just give it to Mrs. Healy in the faculty lounge when you're done." Merlin said hurriedly

"S'alright, Merlin." Gwen assured him "I can handle this." As Merlin dashed away, an evil smile spread across Gwen's beautifully tanned face "I can handle this." She muttered wickedly while looking at two particular names.

The English test, which was all about Dante's Divine Comedy, wasn't as hard as Merlin had expected. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought Mr. Kilgharrah was simply playing a joke on them.

"Now, my dear youngsters, I have an interesting homework to give to all of you." He said in his loud, booming but clear voice. The students rolled their eyes. "What I want you to do is to create a poem of whatever kind you want on any topic. This will prepare you for the next lesson on Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnets. Don't worry; it's due next week yet." And at the part of "next week" the students burst in sighs of relief. Usually, homework was always due the following day when English was concerned.

"You'll help us, right?" Lance asked Merlin. Elyan, Percival and Gwaine sat behind him, making the same puppy face as Lance did. Lancelot, or as he would prefer, Lance, had been Merlin's best friend for a long time. He is known to everyone as the most noble and selfless person around. He also had a great sense of humor and often teased Merlin, joking that Merlin liked him instead of Arthur

"No." Merlin replied quietly.

"Please? I am, after all, your first kiss. " Lance pleaded teasingly, hands pressed together in his chest as a mockery of begging. Merlin cringed at the fact that Lancelot was his first kiss (well, he really wouldn't consider it as his first kiss, Lance was dared to do it and it lasted for 10 seconds before Merlin pushed Lance away and had a panic attack.) Merlin said "No." one last time and an evil smile formed in Lance's face. He whispered something to Elyan, Gwaine and Percival and the three had the same disturbing grin as Lance.

After class, Merlin approached his locker. He wasn't surprised when Lance followed him. "Lance, look. I know I helped you out with a few poems in the past. But I also have my own worries, so it's still a 'no', okay?" Although in reality, he can really write poems for them. As far Merlin is concerned, poems can be created in less than an hour. He just didn't want any homework to disturb him on his weekend marathon of Doctor Who. "And please don't ever mention that kiss. You were simply dared to do it so, in a way, it doesn't count."

The evil smile was still plastered in Lance's face. Before long, he was joined by Gwaine, Percival and Elyan with the same sinister expressions.

"Okay, what is up with those faces? They're creepy." Merlin asked, slightly disturbed. He regretted asking that question moments later. Arthur had appeared, looking puzzled. Obviously, the four people dragged him into this.

"Arthur," Gwaine spoke up in a rather mocking tone "we have this homework that involves poem-making. Can you help us ask Merlin here for help? He usually has a different response if his close friends ask him." He emphasized the words "different" and "close".

Merlin glared at Gwaine. He now realized that they were using Arthur as some method of persuasion to get him to help them.

"Merlin," Arthur called him gently, causing him to turn his stare to Arthur's mesmerizing blue eyes. "Shit!" he thought to himself. There was no way he could say no to those eyes. In fact, he could never say no when Arthur's involved, unless the task causes him harm (Because he's not that desperate and still has his dignity) "Can I ask you to help my four friends? I think they're too dumb to make their own poem." Merlin couldn't help but laugh. Arthur had single-handedly humiliated his four friends. "Do I really have to?" Merlin sighed "Please? As a favor from me?" Arthur pleaded, his eyes staring directly at Merlin's. "Now how can I say no to that?" Merlin thought to himself. "Fine!" Merlin gave in "But I'll only make the first verse. They will have to finish it themselves."

"Thanks! I knew I could count on you." Arthur said, beaming a cute smile at Merlin. Merlin's cheeks were warming. He turned around and muttered "I'll send it to them over the weekend." before he rushed off to hide his rosy blush. He could actually feel the grins Lance, Gwaine, Percival and Elyan had.

The next day, Mrs. Healy posted the room groupings on the bulletin board at the back of the room. The entire class gathered around the post, frantically looking for their names. Merlin could hear squeals of joy from the girls and loud celebration from the boys. Gwen had managed to place everyone with their friends. As he looked for his name, Merlin's eyes widened at the last names on the list. He was grouped with Lance and—wait for it—Arthur!

"That bitch!" Merlin mumbled, half-frustrated (of course the other half felt otherwise.) though he didn't mean it in a serious way. Of course, Mrs. Healy was kind enough to add to his suffering them by putting the words "Drafted and proposed by: Guinevere Smith and Merlin Emrys" in the end. As expected, it sparked a lot of teasing from his classmates. They had speculated that Merlin purposely grouped himself with Arthur and Lance.

"Merlin! Did you like my surprise?" Gwen called out to him from within the crowd of students gathering near the board. He struggled to get out of the crowd and joined her.

"Gwen, do you know how much I hate you right now?!" an irate Merlin said. She was responsible for the groupings and she didn't even show the draft to Merlin.

"I love you, too, Merlin!" She said endearingly with a wide grin on her face. Sophia and Vivian then joined them.

"Gwen, you are awesome!" Sophia said, pronouncing "Awesome" with a singing tone.

"This is your chance Merlin! Don't let it slip away!" Vivian told him.

"I hate you guys." Merlin sighed in defeat.

"So," an approaching voice spoke up. It was Lance. He stood near Merlin and placed an arm around Merlin shoulders. "We're roommates? You know, I would have appreciated it if it was only the two of us." He said teasingly, flashing a flirtatious smile at Merlin.

"Buzz off, Lance. Merlin didn't make that list, I did." Gwen said before looking away. It was Vivian, Sophia and Merlin's turn to smile. They knew Guinevere had a thing for Lance.

"But I really wanted to be alone with Merlin for some 'private' moments." Lance continued "But you had to put the apple of Merlin's eye with us. How is he supposed to focus on me if Arthur's there?"

"Lance!" Arthur suddenly ran towards them, evidently excited "Did you see the list?! You, me and Merlin are together! This is so cool!"

Vivian, Sophia and Gwen excused themselves from the three boys, hiding their laughter. Merlin gave them his I'm-going-to-murder-you-in-your-sleep glare.

Finally, the day of the seminar came. Everyone could barely keep their excitement. They were all gathered near the front desk as Mrs. Healy distributed the keys to the rooms so that they may put their things there. She had a first-come-first-serve basis and Merlin's group, being last in line, received keys to the room at the very end of the hall. He went to his room before Arthur and Lance since they were still talking with Percival and the other "knights" as Merlin liked to call Arthur's friends. He soon found out that the room, whether meant by luck or misfortune(though to him, it was slightly more on the lucky side), had one queen sized bed capable of taking in two people and one small bed for one person.

The unlocked door suddenly burst open behind him and in came Lance. He closed the door and looked at the entirety of the room, then looking at the beds, he grinned at Merlin. "Well, I guess we know which bed we'll be taking." He said. Without warning, he tackled Merlin to the larger bed. Being the walking stick that he is, Merlin was immediately pinned down to the bed, Lance on top of him. All of a sudden, the door opened and Arthur entered the room. He was shocked and gaped at the sight of Merlin and Lancelot.

"Was I, uh" he said nervously "disturbing something?" He didn't wait for an answer and proceeded to go back out.

"What? N-no! Arthur, nothing happened!" Merlin finally spoke up struggling to move away from Lance. Lance immediately gave way.

Arthur gave a sigh of relief "Thank God! I thought for a moment there I was disturbing you two while you were shagging!" He said "But don't worry. If you need privacy tonight, I'll go sleep with Percival, Gwaine and Elyan." He teased.

"Dollophead!" Merlin yelled at him as he threw a pillow at Arthur.

"I'll make sure to inform you later then." Lancelot joked. Merlin could no longer stand the two and stormed out of the room, annoyed.

When Merlin had left, Lancelot turned to Arthur. "When will you ever tell him?" Lance asked seriously. Arthur lay down on the smaller bed, stared at the ceiling and sighed "I don't know, Lance. I think he really likes me, but I can't just assume anything. He keeps telling people that he doesn't feel that way for me. You know I can't handle rejection." Lance sat beside him "I don't know, Arthur. He was always there for you and always put up with your character." "And I love him for that," Arthur replied "He's the only person who I can approach that doesn't seem to care who I am or how popular I am. He never hesitates to point out my mistakes. But that may be because he's my friend and we've known each other since we were eight years old."

"Still, you can't be certain unless you take the risk." Lance told him. One of their classmates then told them that the seminar was about to start.

The first half of the seminar simply was simply a long lecture on personalities and how they affect people's way of interacting with society. The topic alone was boring, but their speaker, an elderly man named Geoffrey Monmouth, made it interesting, relating the topic with his experiences and often targeting unsuspecting students to answer his questions. It was fun, but draining at the same time. They were given a one-hour break after lunch in which they could take a short nap.

"Well, that was tiring!" Merlin told Lance as they went inside their room "I couldn't agree more!" Lancelot replied. Merlin dropped his exhausted body in bed. "Move a bit!" Lancelot demanded as he lay beside Merlin. Lance faced the direction Merlin was facing and suddenly wrapped his hand around Merlin's waist and pulled him close. Merlin didn't mind, considering that he's been over at Lance's house a lot of times for sleepovers and they've done the same thing a lot of times without any malice. Merlin always saw Lance as a dear friend and nothing else so it was quite normal. After nearly an hour, Arthur came in and woke them both up, telling them that the seminar was to begin in a few moments.

The second half of the seminar required the students' interaction. They were asked to get a sheet of paper and write their name on it. Geoffrey then instructed them to pass the papers around and told them to write something positive that they could think about the person whose paper they were holding. They were also asked not to indicate their names when they write the positive things. The papers were passed around systematically to make sure everyone wrote on each of their classmates' paper. When Merlin received Arthur's paper, he tried his best to disguise his handwriting. He wrote "Noble of heart and very cute." with a wink face next to it. Meanwhile, Arthur received Merlin's paper and wrote "Makes me sick! Lovesick, that is. Hehe" with a '3' symbol. At the end of the activity, their own papers were given to them. Merlin was surprised with the "Lovesick" comment and wondered who it may be. "Must have been Lance again." He thought to himself. Arthur felt the same towards the "cute" comment and thought "It must have been one of the girls again."

The rest of their afternoon was used to view a film. The film started from 4:00 pm and ended on 7:00. After the film had ended, they were then asked to gather in the small dining area to eat their dinner. After dinner, they went back to the room of the seminar for one final activity before going to bed. Finally, the seminar came to an end and they were all back to their rooms.

"What'd you think about the activity?" Arthur asked Merlin who was sitting on the queen sized bed "It was fun." Merlin said "Someone wrote on my paper that I made them lovesick." He looked at Lance, who simply smiled at him. Arthur had told Lance earlier. Arthur forced a laugh, knowing it was him who wrote it. "Well," Arthur said "someone wrote I was cute." It was Merlin who laughed this time "Really? Then again, there is no doubt about that."

"I'll just go out to talk to Gwaine for a bit." Lance excused himself and walked out of the room. He slowly shut the door behind him.

"So," Arthur turned to Merlin "Do you really think I'm cute?"

"Wha-" Merlin eyes widened, regretting the slip of his tongue "Well, you know, everyone does." He tried to redeem himself.

"Yeah, but what about you?" Arthur asked him again, looking directly into Merlin's eyes. Merlin tried his best to avoid Arthur's gaze.

"Well, I-I-uh, er." Merlin stammered. He couldn't speak properly.

"Merlin, you make me sick!" Arthur suddenly said in a disgusted manner. Merlin was hurt by the statement, but Arthur then said "Lovesick, that is." His face turned bright red

Merlin's blue eyes widened once more "Y-you wrote that?" Then, gaining his strength once again he said "Arthur Pendragon, you are noble of heart and very cute." He added a short wink.

This time, Arthur's jaw dropped. "So it was you! And I thought it was one of the girls!"

Both of them burst into laughter. Then Merlin became serious once more.

"Do you really mean it, Arthur? Do I really make you lovesick?" Merlin asked, his stare fixed at Arthur.

Arthur stood up from his bed and sat beside Merlin on the queen sized bed. Their eyes met and they stared at each other until finally, Arthur spoke up "Merlin, I've dated a lot of girls, but none of them made me feel the way you did." Merlin blushed and looked away, but Arthur's hand cupped his cheek and guided his gaze back to Arthur. "I love your sarcasm, your cute smile, your selflessness and, most of all, I love you. But if you don't feel the same way, it's alright with me." Merlin did not know what to say and for a moment, Arthur thought he was being rejected and was about to walk away, but Merlin grabbed his wrist and finally spoke "Arthur, wait. You know all those rumors about me being in love with you? Well, they were all true. I just denied them because I was afraid it will ruin our friendship and you might not talk to me again. But the truth is, Arthur, I love you, too." Both of their hearts burst at the proclamation of their love for each other.

Arthur slowly leaned towards Merlin. "I felt bad when I heard Lancelot was your first kiss."

Merlin chuckled "He was dared to do it and I resisted the entire ten seconds. It didn't really count."

"Well, will this count?" Arthur closed the space between them and pressed his lips against Merlin's. Merlin was quick to respond, burying his hand at the blonde hair at the back of Arthur's head. Arthur did the same and pulled Merlin closer. The kiss was long, passionate and filled with sparks. As they pulled apart for breath, Merlin said "Dollophead" and was replied with a chuckle along with the word "Idiot." from Arthur. And they kissed the second time that night.

Later that night, Lancelot returned to the room and smiled at the sight he saw. Merlin and Arthur were sleeping on the larger bed. Merlin's head was tucked under Arthur's chin and rested on the blonde's chest. Arthur's arms were wrapped around Merlin in a warm embrace. He slowly made his way out of the room and called Gwen, who brought along Sophia, Vivian, Freya, Mithian and Elena. Lancelot showed them what he saw and the girls silently squealed. Gwen took out a camera and snapped a picture of the sleeping couple. Merlin moved and buried his face even further and Arthur tightened his embrace in response. Gwaine, Percival and Elyan joined them and Gwaine said in a hushed tone "Finally! It's about time."


End file.
